Clearing an Oracle Deck

I recently fell in love with Whispers of Lord Ganesha (retails for $20-ish on Amazon.com) and I have been trying very hard not to spend ALL OF THE MONIES on decks. I made myself a deal. I said that if I saw it locally, I would purchase it.. fully expecting it would never happen.

It did.

I saw it in a local shop and asked to see the box (it was behind glass and in a shop I'd never been in before). I had already come to the counter with other purchases (incense and the like) and the person behind the counter just rang it up without showing it to me. I should have asked to look at it but I figured I was going to buy it anyway so why bother.

My bill seemed high but I was riding the "yay new deck!" waves so I didn't say anything.

I got home and I realized the price on the box was $42.90! Twice what I would pay at Amazon. Now, I know, I'm supporting a local shop (which has a no return policy) and I should have insisted on knowing the price first. All of this is on me. I totally get that.

But now, I don't want to work with the deck because I have all of this icky feeling of being taken advantage of attached to it.

If you were me, what would you do to change your perception and remove this attachment from the deck?

I would just think to yourself that you didn't use amazon - notorious for tax avoidance and ripping off their workers - and bought a clean and wholesome deck from a local shop which can't afford to make discounts like that and is under threat from places like amazon.

You haven't been taken advantage of at all, not least because you could have looked at the price first - they weren't hiding anything. They charged the price on the box, I gather ? and it will have cost the store to import it from the other side of the world, too. You have done a good thing, even if it was financially painful. Look on it as a highly moral deck

You treated yourself! You deserve to treat yourself, and have instant gratification! =)
And you supported a local shop!

I like to light to incense, and stick myself and my cards in the beautiful smelling smoke, relax, and meditate on how good it feels to treat myself to indulgences. So do what makes you feel good - and tell yourself you are worth it.

We have an Amazon warehouse quite near to us, their staff turnover is huge, they just can't keep their workers. All the recruitment agencies recruit for them.

You bought at a local shop, they would have charged the price shown on the box, your purchase could help them keep their head above the water. So many of the occult/new age shops are closing down that, for me, it's a rare treat to get to handle a deck or to look through crystals. If I had a shop like that local to me, I would support them, even if it meant paying more.

All of the decks are in a case and sealed up so no chance to get to play with them.. which I totally understand.

The Bookstore at the Omega Rhinebeck campus has sample decks out to handle (with a hole punched through the top corner and linked together with a ball chain loop) and that was delightful! I got to really look at every single card in the deck.

That's a beautiful deck! I have it and really enjoy the visual feast that each card provides. I wouldn't worry at all about the deck. You supported a local business that needs you, and Ganesha would never allow the deck to carry a negative energy, anyway, right?

While I generally agree about supporting local business, if you feel you were ripped off, that's certainly not the fault of the deck. You can choose whether or not to shop at the store in the future based on this experience, but the cards didn't do anything wrong. You wanted the deck, and now you have it, so use this as a reason to love it and use it those $43 worth.

I recently fell in love with Whispers of Lord Ganesha (retails for $20-ish on Amazon.com) and I have been trying very hard not to spend ALL OF THE MONIES on decks. I made myself a deal. I said that if I saw it locally, I would purchase it.. fully expecting it would never happen.

It did.

I saw it in a local shop and asked to see the box (it was behind glass and in a shop I'd never been in before). I had already come to the counter with other purchases (incense and the like) and the person behind the counter just rang it up without showing it to me. I should have asked to look at it but I figured I was going to buy it anyway so why bother.

My bill seemed high but I was riding the "yay new deck!" waves so I didn't say anything.

I got home and I realized the price on the box was $42.90! Twice what I would pay at Amazon. Now, I know, I'm supporting a local shop (which has a no return policy) and I should have insisted on knowing the price first. All of this is on me. I totally get that.

But now, I don't want to work with the deck because I have all of this icky feeling of being taken advantage of attached to it.

If you were me, what would you do to change your perception and remove this attachment from the deck?

Amazon is notorious for mistreatment of workers, and undercutting normal retail prices for the sole purpose of driving competition out of business. Once the competition is devastated, they normalize their prices. They also move into depressed areas, open a warehouse, become the only employer in the area, and practice near-criminal employment standards.

Also, standard markup practices for small retail is usually twice what you've paid for it, not counting shipping. Items like books have even worse margins than the usual 50%, usually somewhere around 25%. I'd be surprised if that shop made $10 off that deck.

So, in exchange for a slightly elevated price, you've helped keep that shop afloat in tough economic times. The owner of that shop cares about their employees, listens to their ideas, and is more likely to promote from within and hire local people. Local shop owners and local employees also spend more money locally, because they understand the importance of a local economy, and they want to see their neighbors succeed. Local shops also are more inclined to give to local charities and fund raising events (esp. those for individual families or schools), including ones they'll never see any reciprocal return on, simply because they care about their community.

That same local shop has people that will discuss your product concerns and can help you in just about every aspect of everything they carry to make sure you love what you've bought, because they're experts in everything they carry. Had you asked, I'm sure you'd have gotten a walk thru of the deck, the sale's persons opinions of it, and recommendations for your specific situation, and just because local shop people are people persons, probably even a free mini-reading, and some nice like minded conversation out of it.

Amazon will never be interested in any of that. Ever. They even trick their customers into doing half of their customer service job for them for free in the form of customer reviews, customer answered questions, and customer photos.

Aside from supporting a local place, I can get why you feel taken advantage of. I think ringing up the deck instead of letting you see it was probably just a slip-up on the clerk's part, they might have misheard/misinterpreted what you said and thought you were asking to just ring it up! A few people come in knowing what the deck they want looks like and buy it without peeking, us being in the Information age and all... If you think it was a clerk trying to pull the wool over your eyes though, might be a good idea to go somewhere else.

As for the price, I agree with Dogs&Coffee. Brick and mortar places (that aren't, y'know, chains) have to bring the price up a little to make a profit and stay open. That extra charge goes toward paying employees, getting new merchandise, and even providing services or classes. A good metaphysical shop is worth supporting!

The Aeclectic Tarot Forum closed permanently on July 14th, 2017. The public threads remain online as a read-only archive and resource. More information on our decision can be found here. Thank you for being a part of our active community over the past seventeen years.